My Factionless Love
by Jessy Ann
Summary: When factionless girl Rosalinda looks for a new home in Dauntless, will she be welcomed with open arms, or will she be ignored just like before? This is an Eric/OC ship. You've been warned.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**

**I can't believe I'm doing this again! Ahhh! Okay. So I must warn you this is a OC/Eric ship. Only because I feel Tris/Tobias ships are to common. Most of this will try to stay IC, but I cannot promise that. I will say this now, this is before Eric became leader, and Tobias is in the control room only, so he may pop in and out. Please tell me what you think. I'll keep going if I hear something good. Have fun! Oh, and the italic parts are flashbacks.**

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"Rosalinda Cassini." The man at the front of the room says loudly. I look up to see the entire room stare at me. I take one last look at my parents, the smile on their face hard to conceal. They give me a pat on my leg before almost pushing me out of my seat and towards the stage. I hang on to the hem of my long shirt, slowly walking to the front. My black hair is in a tight bun, and my clothes are mix matched from different factions. My boots are Dauntless, with duct tape around them, my skirt is Amity yellow, a blue Erudite tank top underneath a long grey Abnegation shirt with dirt stains unfortunately everywhere. I can hear the murmur of the people behind me, speaking to their family and each other. "How can she be allowed to choose? She's one of them…" "I'm surprised she even showed up…" "Look at her, she won't make it anywhere…" I squeeze my eyes closed for a second, taking a deep breathe before opening them and finishing my walk to the stage. I ascend the stairs one at a time, counting my breaths while keeping my eyes on the man in grey in front of the faction bowls. Marcus, I think his name was, gives a small smile and holds out his hand to me, so I take it nervously. He helps me up the rest of the stairs, and releases my hand only to place a knife in its place. I look down at the knife, the edge of the blade shining in the light coming from the ceiling. I look up at the crowd in front of me, my eyes darting to each face as my mind wheels.

"_Please, just let her take the test. She needs this!" I remember my mother begging the council of leaders in front of her. My father next to her, nodding his head in agreement. I was seated in the back of the room, close to the door. I stared down at my hands folded in my lap, looking up occasionally._

"_If we allow that, she would have to be treated like any of the faction kids. She would have to go to school, act like the others. She would be expected to keep up with anything that was thrown at her." The woman in blue says, her eyes skirting me for a moment, before going back to my parents. She pushes some of her short blonde hair out of her face, shifting herself on her chair and folding her hands on the table again. Her body shows kindness, understanding, but her eyes are hard, contemplative_

"_And we would have to do this for every factionless child out there. We can't show favoritism for one girl." A man in all black speaks up this time. He's different than the woman in blue, his kindness reaches his eyes, and when our eyes meet, he gives me a small smile. I return the smile._

"_Max, Jeanine, I promise you that she can keep up. And she's the only factionless born. So you won't be breaking the rules." My dad persists. He takes my mother's hand, looking at everyone in the room. "I need her to have something better than what we can give her. I need her safe! Just please, give her a shot."_

"_How about we let her show us." Another lady says, the scars on her face half covered by her dark hair. Her bright clothes are a change for the scene in the room. She and the council look at me then, and my mouth goes dry. I clear my throat and stand when a man in grey motions me forward._

I look at each bowl in turn, seeing the different contents in each bowl. I bring the knife up to my hand, and shakily draw the knife across. The sting from the cut is quick, and so is the blood the pools into my hand. I close my eyes for a moment to breathe.

"_Hey! Factionless! You don't belong here!" I hear a kid scream from the bus as it passes me on the road. Someone throws something out of the window, a cup, and its contents splash all over me. All the kids laugh inside, disappearing around a corner. I hold my books closer to my chest. I pick up the pace of my walk, trying to get home before I run into anyone else from school. I turn down a street, which gives me a clear view of my 'house', if you can call it that. I can see the tarp on the roof flapping in the breeze, smoke coming from one of the windows._

I look at the bowl for what seems like forever, the blood in my hand collecting, almost ready to drop onto the floor. I quickly move my hand over one of the bowls right as the blood drips from my hand.

_I curl into the smallest ball on the sidewalk. I muffle my sobs while hiding my face into my arm. The kids kick and throw things at me. I can only see fabrics of blue, black, and white. I black out for a moment when someone kicks me hard to the head, but quickly come back when someone pours some type of liquid on me. God I hope it's water._

"_You'll never make it, factionless, you'll always be a nobody. We'll make sure of it." One of them says and they laugh, giving me one last kick and walking off. I stay in my position for a while, making sure they don't have a reason to come back._

I hear the sizzle from my blood hitting the coals. I put the knife down and grab the gauze and wrap that is placed for me. I wrap my hand as Marcus announces behind me, "Dauntless!" I hear cheers and claps from around the room, mostly from the group in black behind me. I walk to join them, looking at the smiles and faces that surround me, getting claps on the back and hugs from others. I take the last empty seat in the front, moving a bit to see my parents still in the crowd. They're crying, but I know it's tears of joy.

I made it. I actually made it. I'll have to work especially hard to pass initiation, according to my mom and dad. Or I'll just have to return home, and I'll be the girl that tried and failed.

The rest of the ceremony goes by quickly, with a couple more transferred from Candor, Erudite and Amity. None from Abnegation. Go figure. Once it's over, Dauntless stands firsts, starting to run for the exit, hooting and hollering before we reach the stairs. I take one look back at my parents, and they wave and smile, their eyes bright with excitement, almost proud. I smile as I turn around, following my new faction out into the street. I catch up to the rest of the crowd just as I see the first member's scaling the beams to the train tracks. Thank goodness for always have to run everywhere. "Get ready!" Someone shouts, as the rest climb, then stand at the top, jumping and talking with friends. Once I reach the beam, I take a breath and climb, only losing my grip for a couple moments. I'm almost at the top when a hand reaches out for me. I look up to see a boy with a cute smile and tan skin looking down at me. I take his hand, and he pulls me up the rest of the way.

"Thought you could use a little help." He said and smiles again, he holds his hand out again so I can shake it. "I'm Zeke. I'm originally from Dauntless. And you?" He asks as I shake his hand. Before I can open my mouth and say anything, the floor under us rumbles, and the train pops into view. Once it catches up with us, everyone starts to run, jumping into the empty cars. "Here we go!" Zeke next to me shouts, and I follow his lead, running and jumping into the car. I land on the floor, rolling to the back of the car.

"Damn, the nobody made it on." Someone says from the corner, I look up, and it's one of the boys from Erudite, a girl that's pretty much hanging all over him laughing at him. I think I recognize him from somewhere, but I don't look long just in case.

"HEY!" Zeke says as he helps me up. "I bet she'll beat your ass during initiation. She kepy up better than anyone else so far." He hooks his arm around mine, pulling me closer to him. I smile while looking at Zeke, who gives me a wink. "Don't worry, I got your back." He whispers to me.

"Time to go." An older Dauntless member says, leaning half out of the car. We all take a peek out, watching the other cars of people start to jump out and onto a roof.

"Ladies first." Zeke says, holding out his arms to me. I take a deep breath, and run forward, jumping out of the car and just making the roof. Maybe it is a good thing I'm skinny. I land on my hands and knees, taking a minute to catch myself. I laugh as I stand to my feet, scraping off the pebbles from my knees and palms. Zeke shows up next to me, and we walk towards the group, as two members stand on the ledge of the roof. I recognize one as Max, the leader of Dauntless, from a meeting a long time ago. On his right is a tall, strong built man, with tattoos on his arms and neck and piercings on his face. His arms are crossed across his chest, as his mouth absentmindedly plays with the piercing in his lip. His hair is short in the back, but hangs to almost his eyes in front. In the light it looks almost white. I stare at him for much longer than I mean to, but he doesn't notice.

"Everyone listen up!" Max says, and everyone hushes and moves in closer. "I'm Max, leader of hopefully your new home and this is Eric, our newest leader in training. Welcome to Dauntless. Since you guys have passed the first part of initiation, it's time for the second." He finishes, gesturing to the edge of the roof. "Time to see whose brave enough to go first."

"We have to jump?" I say, a little more loudly than I meant to. Everyone's attention turns to me, and I can feel my face turn bright red. I try to hide behind Zeke, but it's too late.

"Of course, stupid. Did you really think we would get a nice pony ride into Dauntless?" the Erudite boy says again. A couple people laugh, but not enough. Thank god.

"Then I guess you won't mind going first then." Eric says, dropping down onto the roof and walking over to the boy. "What's your name?" He asks, grabbing the boy's shirt.

"Peter." The boy says, puffing out his chest. If I didn't know any better, I could swear I saw fear on his eyes.

"Well Peter," Eric starts, walking them both over to the edge. "Time for you…" He starts, picking up Peter by the shirt and half throwing, half dragging him over the edge and watching him disappear from sight. "…To enter Dauntless." He finishes, finally looking at me. He stares for the longest time, not moving a muscle. I start to fidget under his gaze. I break first, looking down at my hole filled shoes.

"So, who's next?" Max says, looking at everyone. Surprisingly, my hand slowly raises up after a couple minutes, and Max gestures for me to stand on the edge with him. I give Zeke one last look, and he smiles and nods at me, while I make up way to the front. I reach up for my hair, pulling it down from its bun, letting it fall down to my back. I hear catcalls and whistles as I take off the baggy shirt, feeling the air hit more of my arms and the top of my chest. I join Max on the edge, looking down to see the hole below. I start to shake, reaching out for anything to grab onto. Warm strong hands find mine, and I turn to see Eric holding my outstretched hand. I look at our hands, and he follows my gaze. He lets go as quickly as he took hold, looking anywhere except at me.

I turn to look at the crowd behind me, watching all the faces watching me. I chance my luck and find Eric's eyes again, his pierced eyebrow raising slightly. I take another breath and close my eyes, slowly leaning back until I'm no longer on the roof, and all I feel is a rush of air behind me.


	2. Chapter 2

I was flying for so long, that I inadvertently squealed when my back hit something, bouncing me back into the air a good couple feet, then back onto a net. I laughed, rolling as someone was pulling the net down to get me off. I felt hands reach out to me, and I grabbed them, hoisting myself down. The hands belonged to a tall fair skinned boy. Well, more like man. His eyes were a mixture of green hazel and his hair was light brown. His shirt stopped at his shoulders, so his muscles were exposed. His smile was soft, something I didn't expect from a Dauntless member. "Welcome to Dauntless. What's your name?" He asked, his voice deep.

"Um. Rosalinda." I said. My voice still sounding winded from the fall. I cleared my throat.

"Well Rosalinda, this is your one chance to create a new identity for yourself. Throw away your past and restart. Up for it?" He suggested. I gave him a look, more excited than anything. I can change myself? I can leave my old factionless behind? Am I ready for that? I guess at this point I have to be. I gave him another smile.

"I think I am. I'm Rose." I said.

"Second jumper, Rose!" The man said, and I heard cheering from around the room. "I'm Trystan, hope to see you around." He finished gesturing down the steps to where Peter was standing, arms crossed and huffing to himself. I walked down the steps and leaned against the wall, somewhat a distance from Peter.

"Aww what's wrong Peter? Upset because you we're forced down instead of being all big and bad?" I said, mimicking his posture. Geez, I already was acting like a Dauntless. His glare said it all, but his mouth said nothing. We both watched as the rest of the initiates dropped form the hole and onto the net. Zeke was smiling once he landed, walking over to stand next to me. Eric was second to last, hoisting himself out of the net with ease. I watched as he walked over to us, standing behind the group. He must have sensed me staring, because he looked up at me, raising an eyebrow again. I leaned over to Zeke and whispered to him, "Is everyone in Dauntless buff, and menacing?"

Zeke chuckled and whispered back, "Pretty much. And right now you're the twig in a forest full of whomping willows." As if he could hear us Eric gave me a long look over, head to toe, and gave a snort and a wink. I blinked at him confused then gave him the same look, watching him from head to toe. His arms were crossed across his chest again, his muscles tight against his vest and shirt. His jeans were very worn, with holes in the sides, tucked sloppily into the same type of boots I was wearing. I rolled my eyes, mostly at Eric, but it included Zeke who chuckled again while Max walked to the front of the group. I gave Eric one last look, turning the rest of my body before my head followed, raising an eyebrow. Were we actually flirting? There's no way. I stopped my internal battle while Max had the Dauntless-born follow Trystan, and us initiates to follow him, giving us the grand tour. I waved bye to Zeke, hoping to see him at lunch.

We passed by the Pit, a big open area where people were laughing in groups, sparring, and the occasional couples making out. I rolled my eyes as we passed by one couple who were getting real close, almost too close for public. I hadn't realized I stopped to look at the people in the Pit, until I felt a strong hand on the small of my back, pushing me forward a lot more gently than I expected. I looked back to see Eric giving me that questioning look again. "You're falling behind, initiate. Interested in something?" He questioned, and not breaking his gaze as we walked forward, slowly catching up to the group.

"You know, for a leader in training, you're very hands on." I spoke, ignoring his question and following the group to what they called the Chasm. The water that rushed down into what looked like total darkness looked like it scared everyone else, but to me the water was soothing, almost peaceful.

At that his face turned hard, obviously thinking I'm questioning him. He pushed me away, closer to the railing of the bridge above the chasm. "Keep moving, initiate." He said coldly, pushing past me to walk up front. I rolled my eyes again, brushing myself off and walking behind everyone. His mood swings were annoying. Max and Eric showed us the dining hall, the shops, and the training room, where we would be for the next couple weeks. We walked down the hall to the co-ed initiate dorms, which was a big room with about 25 cots. We only took up about half, so I picked the one closest to the door, and a couple beds down from everyone else. Max and Eric chuckled at all of us as we gaped at the bathrooms. Showers on one side, toilets on another. There were walls to give some privacy, but no doors on any. We all walked back to the beds, as Max and Eric walked towards the door.

"Alright. Everyone get changed and head to the dining hall. Get some dinner then a good night's sleep. Tomorrow training starts." Max announced as he turned to leave. He stopped when I reached my bed, turning his head to me. "I need to speak with you. I'll come find you once dinner's over." He said quietly, only so I could hear. I nodded, watching him walk out the door with Eric on his heels.

I picked my way through the clothes they provided for us. Everything looked like it would swallow me. I gave up after a while and picked a spaghetti strap top with jeans. I kept the same boots I came with, not wanting to have to break in another pair during training. I waited as everyone changed and left the dorm, wanting to have a moment to myself before going to dinner. I looked up just in time to see Peter whisper something to his girlfriend to which she laughed too loudly. They were the last to leave, smirking at me as they walked out the door. I ignored them, walking to the showers with my clothes and a towel. I showered a lot longer than I thought, enjoying the water to much, because the voice that rang out scared me so bad I squealed, yet again, and crouched to the bottom of the shower stall.

"Initiate! Let's go! For you, Dinner isn't an option!" Eric barked as he walked into the shower area, stopping at my stall as he blinked then looked down at me still on the floor. "What the hell are you doing?" His voice was still gruff but there was an undertone in it. Amusement? I slowly stood up, grabbing my towel off the bench before standing up completely and wrapping it around me.

"I'm not used to being able to have a good shower. And even then depending on where we were, people would come up and…you know." I stated, watching him sit on the bench next to my clothes and look at me.

"You're Dauntless now. No one does that." He said, still watching me as I slip on my undergarments with my towel still on. He pulled at the towel once I was finished, taking a look at me before handing me my pants and shirt. "Yeah, you definitely don't need to skip dinner." I looked down at myself. My hip bones were sticking out a lot farther than I remember. I really had no fat on me at all, it was the little muscle I kept from running home and protecting myself.

"Why do you even care? Don't you just want me gone too?" I asked, putting on my boots last. I stood up fully, putting my hands on my hips. He just stared at me for a minute, then stood up. I barely made it to his chest, God why is everyone so tall? He started walking to the dorm, when he noticed I wasn't following. He gestured to the door, putting both arms out on front of him. "Let's go. Before the dining hall closes and you starve." He said, annoyed. I roll my eyes, but follow him out of the dorm and into the hall. I follow him into the dining hall, where most people are finishing up. Eric went one way, going to sit down with Max and a couple other people. I looked around and saw everyone still wrapped up in conversations. I walked over and sat next to the rest of the initiates, looking at all the food on the table. I've never seen so much food in one place before. I took only small portions, a burger, mashed potatoes, broccoli and a roll. I ate quietly, moving from one item to another. I didn't bother looking up or joining in conversation, I'm used to being alone. Someone plopped themselves down next to me, and I look up to see a bright face.

"Hey! I was hoping to see you again. How are you so far?" Trystan says, sitting backwards on the bench, resting his elbows behind him on the table. He looked at me while I finished a bite of food, chewing and swallowing before speaking up.

"Well I've completely embarrassed myself in front of Eric, twice, but so far so good." I say, taking a drink from the tin cup in front of me. "I mean now I get to dress and undress in front of total strangers, which isn't uncommon already, but now I get to prove that I can stay in Dauntless." I take a bite from the roll, the last thing on my plate. I watch with a frown as he reaches over and places more food on my plate.

"You'll thank me later." He says and gestures for me to keep eating. "And trust me I'm sure it's not as embarrassing as Eric walking in on a threesome in his new office when he was first appointed leader in training.

At that I snort, choking on the food in my mouth. I cough for a bit, then stare wide eyed at Trystan, who's….blushing? "Really? Wait, was it you?!" I said, staring at him as he looks down and nods.

"Guilty." He said and we laugh, a little too loudly. Eric looks up from his seat next to Max to us, and his eyebrows crinkle in the middle. I can't help but laugh harder as I see him frown at us. Trystan and I keep talking, him telling me some things about Dauntless, me telling him things I've learned about being factionless. The entire time he looked at me not like I was different, but like I was already in the faction. It was different, but comforting.

After my 5th plate of food that Trystan managed to sneak under me, my stomach was descended really far. I rubbed at my stomach and laughed at a corny joke Trystan told when I felt a hand tap me on my shoulder. Trystan seeing who it was straightened up, and I turned to see Max looking down at me.

"You ready?" He asked. I nodded and stood, giving Trystan a wave and a thank you smile. Trystan nodded at Max and smiled at me as Max and I walked from the dining hall. I followed him around corners and different corridors until we came to a stop in front of a door. He pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door, opening it and letting me enter first. He followed in after me, closing the door and going to sit behind the desk in the middle of the room. From the looks of his room this was his office. He gestures to the chairs in front of his desk, and I walk over and sit in one of them. He looks at me for a minute, before sighing and slumping his shoulders a bit.

"I'm sorry to say this, but unfortunately training won't be the only thing you'll be doing here." He says, moving a couple papers to pick one out, looking at it before handing it off to me. I stand to grab it from him. "Your 'punishment' for coming from the factionless will be helping the leaders." He sneers as he speaks. "I thought it was completely ridiculous to make you do anything besides initiation, but the other factions signed it into place. You'll be cleaning up the offices after training each day. There's only 5 offices so you'll get 2 days off. You'll report to me each day to get the keys to a new office, just in case you're not finished by the time the leader goes home for the night."

I frown at the paper. The only two signatures not on it is his and Marcus'. I look up at his with a small smile, handing him back the paper. "It's okay sir. I wasn't expecting to get off scotch free. I'm used to having to serve others, so this will be easy." I say, trying to convince him more than me. "Just let me know when I start." I say with a bigger smile, inwardly throwing a fit. Why the hell do I always have to prove myself? Didn't I do that enough to show I can even pick a faction?

"After training tomorrow. I'll come find you again after dinner and we'll get started." He said putting the paper back into the pile on his desk. He looked back at me, smiling softly as he stood up. "I want to be honest with you Rosalinda. When your parents fought for you during that meeting, I could see that you deserved a chance. I was the one who convinced them to give the go ahead. And I know you won't disappoint me. Please let me know if anything bothers you, or if you need help in anything." He said walking over to me and placing a hand on my back, walking me to the door. It felt different from when Eric did it, but still warm. Wait, why am I thinking about Eric? I mentally shook myself and smiled at Max.

"Thank you Max. I know my parents, and especially me are grateful for your confidence in me, and the opportunity to be like everyone else." I say as I look at him, stepping away from his hand by standing outside the door. I'll see you tomorrow." I say as I give him a small nod. I start to turn, but stop and look at him again. "Oh and sir? It's Rose." I say smiling as I walk back down the hallway, feeling his eyes on me as I leave before turning the corner.

After some time I make it back to the dorm. Everyone is getting ready for bed, making small talk with each other. I walk to my bed, changing into a long shirt and shorts before crawling into bed. I face the wall as everyone shuffles into their beds, someone flipping the lights off. I sigh as I snuggle into the sheets, drifting to sleep.

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**Thank you for reading this far. I apologies this is so late. With my son stealing my laptop and writers block, it's pretty difficult. Thanks to **avadak3davra **for her awesome self. Please R+R! [:**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:**

**Ello lovelies. Thank you for the reviews. thought I'd just clear some things before getting to the good stuff. 1. I really dont have a timeline for when this will be updated. I kinda just wing it. I write it, I re-read/make corrections, then I post. With that being said, please let me know if I make any mistakes or something doesnt make sense. 2. I'd love to get everyone's opinion and thoughts about anything. Don't like where im going with something? Tell me! I'm up for opinions. And of course 3. I dont own anything except Rose. She's mine. I think we all know this by now. Now ONWARD!**

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_"Rosalinda!" I turned to see my mom waving to me motioning me towards her. I run to her, throwing myself into her arms. She hugged me for a while, then pulled me back to look at me. My mom was almost like me, but her hair was short and a little taller than me. I smiled at her, as we linked arms and started to walk forward. We were in one of the fields in the factionless section. We were both in the same clothing, a mixture of faction colors. I lean my head on her should as we walked. "I'm very proud of you Rosalinda. You're growing into a lovely young lady. I wish I could have just given you more." She said looking down._

_"Mom, you did great. I don't need much. I have you and dad." I bumped her shoulder lightly, squeezing her hand. "I'm thankful to you for trying so hard to give me what everyone else gets. I promise that once I get the chance to choose, I'll make you and dad prouder." _

_She turned to look at me, squeezing my shoulders and smiled at me. "Thank you honey, now you just have to wake up." _

_I blinked, looking at her for a moment. "What?"_

_"I said Wake up Initiate!" She said again, her face turning to an angry scowl._

"GAH!" I squealed, falling to the floor, tangled in my blanket with my mattress falling on top of me. I heard others laughing as I tried to dig myself out of my blankets and push the bed off me. I looked up once the bed was moved to its side to see Eric looking down at me, giving me an evil smirk.

"About time! Now you have 10 minutes instead of 20. Get dressed and head to the training room!" Eric said, turning to leave, but stopped to look at me one more time. I narrowed my eyes at him, as he chuckled and walked out of the room, some of the initiates following him. I stood up, throwing my bed back into the frame, not caring if it was straight or not. I looked around the room, the only people that were left were Peter, his girl toy, and his friends Drew and Edward. I was only a little uncomfortable with them there, but I was used to getting undressed with others around, so it didn't bother me too much. I twisted my shirt off, leaving me in shorts and a bra. I hear the whispering behind me, but I ignored it as I grabbed out a clean top and pants.

Suddenly I felt air behind me as people ran past me. I felt a smack on my ass, as someone grabbed my clothing from in front of me. I straightened up as I watched Drew and Peter's back at the door, but Peter turned around, holding my shirt. He winked, running out the door. "Grrr. Come back here!" I growled running after them. I heard them laughing as the turned the corner with me running fast behind them. I followed them threw the Pit, circling around then down the hall towards the Chasm. I caught up to them just to see them throw my top and pants over the railing. I stopped at the railing, watching with shock as it fell down and disappeared with the water at the bottom. I turned to the group, who were smiling and trying to hold back laughter at my anger. I growled again, pulling my arm back and getting ready to punch the closest person, who happened to be Edward. He ducked and ran past me, knocking me down as the rest followed. I quickly got up, following after them. Running with them back into the Pit, down the hall, and straight into the training room.

"INITIATES!" We all stopped at the voice of Eric, turning to look at him with his arms across his chest, his signature look. Next to him was Max and who I'm guessing were a couple other leaders. Eric had an eyebrow raised, and the rest had frowns on their faces. I crossed my arms, mimicking Eric, realizing I was still only in my bra and shorts. "What's going on?" he questioned, eyeing Peter, Drew, Molly, Edward, then coming back to me. I raised an eyebrow at him as his eyes ran down my body again, inadvertently shivering at him. I wasn't that comfortable with myself.

"Well, someone decided to steal my clothes from me and throw them at the bottom of the Chasm." I said mostly to Max, ignoring Eric.

"Really?" Max asked turning to the group next to me.

"I swear we didn't mean to, it was just a joke." "She's blowing it all out of proportion." "We were just playing around." Peter, Drew, Molly, and Edward started talking at once, making excuses. I started rubbing at my arms, getting cold. I sneered at them as they kept going.

"Enough!" We all went quiet at Max. "Eric, find something for Rose to wear and get started with training." He motioned at me while Peter and his group turned to walk into the training room more and Max turned back to the group behind him. Eric walked towards me, removing his vest and his shirt, throwing the shirt at me and putting his vest back on. I stared at him for a moment, looking at his chest the same way he just looked at mine.

"Like what you see?" He said only so I could hear, opening his vest on one side, giving me another eyebrow raise. I rolled my eyes, putting on his shirt as the rest of the transfer initiates walked in, looking at a half covered Eric. I took the hair tie from my wrist, tying the shirt up around my waist so it wasn't in the way. I inadvertently took a whiff of the shirt, it smelt of him and a fresh man scent. I stayed there for a moment, enjoying the scent. The only person who ever offered the clothes off their back were my dad and the Abnegation. I wanted to thank him, but the look I was getting from him said not to mention it, at all. I jumped when he yelled at the room, "Alright! Everyone start running! We have a lot of work to do before you guys become Dauntless." I looked down at my feet, which were still bare. It wouldn't be the first time I ran barefoot, but it'll be very uncomfortable. "LET'S GO!" Eric roars, which everyone starts moving. I started at the back of the group, but made my way to the middle.

Keeping pace with running was easy for me, with having to run a lot back home. But as the last lap ended, I plopped to the ground, looking down at my feet. They were red and the skin was already scraping in places. I groaned to myself, cursing under my breath about getting wrapped up with Peter and his group of misfits that I forgot my boots. They occasionally looked over, giving me a smirk or eyes as I moved, stretching my arms and legs. I was glad when Max called us all over, wanting to speak with us before we continued for the day.

Max explained training, which was in three parts. Physical and mental and the final. He told us about how only a certain amount of initiates would make the cut, so after the first week there would be people leaving us. One of the Candor girls, I think her name was Christina, complained and said it was unfair. Eric put her back in her places, telling her that she could suck it up or leave now, heading to the factionless. I was a little upset as he used my old home as a threat. It wasn't as bad as he made it, but I wasn't going to correct him. He was being nice, there was no way I needed to mess that up, yet. After that, we were instructed to go to one of the punching bags around the room, practicing our punches.

I got stuck with the bag in between Peter and Drew, with Edward and Molly flanking them. I ignored them, focusing on punching and kicking the bag. The bag never moved at any of my shots, and after a while I think I was doing more damage to myself than the bag. I looked down at my hands, which already had dark marks on them. I sighed heavily, taking another stance to try again. I felt someone come up behind me, and I was really hoping it was Eric. _Anyone but…_ I thought to myself, but I felt hands in my hair, and I knew my nightmare was true.

"Need help, princess?" Peter whispered into my hair. I tried shaking him off, but he placed one of his hands on my stomach, the other on my arm, repositioning me. I almost wanted to hurl at his touch, thank God I didn't eat this morning. He kicked my legs farther apart with his own, but kept his leg in between mine. "Like this. Keep yourself straight up here. Now try again." He said not backing up. I took a look over at Drew, who was chucking to himself. I smirked, taking a step forward like I was going to punch, but turned at the last second and brought my heel into his side, knocking the wind out of him. I smiled as he stepped back, holding his side. Once he caught himself, he ran at me, grabbing at my throat with both hands. He slammed me back into the punching bag, which only helped him hold on harder. I started to claw at his hands, choking.

"What's going on over here?!" Eric said as he came over, pulling Peter off of me. I fell to the ground, holding my throat and coughing to catch my breath. I glared at Peter, standing to my feet. "I asked a question!" Eric screamed, causing the rest of the room to jump and stare.

"Nothing." I said hoarsely, clearing my throat to speak again. "It was nothing." I said giving a glance to Eric. The look on his face said he didn't believe me, but I looked back at Peter as he smirked at me.

Eric rubbed at his eyes, then pushed Peter towards the mats in the middle of the room. "Since you won't bother telling me, you two can work it out like Dauntless. Get in the ring!" He shouted at both of us. I followed behind Peter, pulling the hair tie from the shirt and wrapping it around my hair. I'd rather him not touch my hair again. I stepped onto the mat, watching as Peter shook himself off, bouncing where he stood. I took a breath, stepping forward to get into position, as Peter did the same. "GO!" Eric shouted, signaling the fight to start.

I moved before my mind recognized the movement. I threw my fist out in a punch, only to miss Peter as he dodged, slamming his fist into my side. I stumbled back some, but not enough to knock me off my feet. I step forward, giving him a kick and just making his chest. He coughs for a moment, but quickly comes back and tackles me down, pinning me under him with his legs and one arm, the other hitting me where he can, my face and side. I try to push him off, but from lack of food and fighting the bag I'm too weak, instead focusing on pulling my hands free. It's when he whispers to me something snaps. "You're nothing. You're so weak you can't even get up. You'll never make it here, factionless." My blood boils at that sentence, bring back the memories from before. Now I _know_ I've met Peter before. Adrenaline kicks in, all the pain from earlier disappearing and I free my hands, and punch him in the side of the throat, knocking him off enough to knee him in the crotch. He groaned and fell to the ground on his side, his hands between his knees. I took my opportunity to punch and kick wherever I could, not stopping my attack. In my blur of attacking he somehow found a way to kick me back, knocking me down. I wasn't paying attention enough, I was already seeing red. So when it took him a moment to stand up, I decided to add insult to injury.

"Hey Peter." I waited till he looked up at me to continue. I nodded my head to Molly behind me before adding an evil glint to my eye. "Just thought I should tell you, last night, during your special time she was faking it." I saw his face turn red, and anger replace the smugness in his eyes. He quickly got up, running at me to land another blow. I rolled around him, kicking him in the ass so he pitched forward and fell again. He recovered from it quickly again, kicking me in the stomach this time. Now I'm really glad I didn't eat breakfast. I held my stomach for a moment as he punched at my face again, not feeling the impact. I pushed him away, getting up and doing a roundhouse kick, landing right on the side of his head. Peter went down, not getting up. I walked over to see his eyes closed, but he was still breathing. Thank God. I looked up at everyone who was looking at us with their mouths half open. I took a moment to catch my breath then raised my first in the air, my heart pounding in my eyes. "Yeah!" I said, looking over at Eric who was walking over to check on Peter, a small smile playing on his face. That was the last thing I remembered before everything went black.


	4. Chapter 4

My mind came back before my body did. I could hear voices below me, but I couldn't move my body or open my eyes.

"She'll be fine. She's really weak and initiation won't help her until she gets some…well meat on her bones." A woman said by my head, with an occasional beeping from a machine. She must be the doctor.

"Don't worry we'll get here there." A man's voice this time. I know that voice. "Even if I have to feed her myself." Gee thanks _Eric._ Light footsteps are heard retreating, while boots come towards my head. I feel light touches on my face, tracing my cheek, then make their way into my hair. My body automatically responds as I cringe away, scrunching my eyes before opening them. I close them as quick as I open them. The light was so bright, and the room was way to white. I must have found my way into the infirmary. '_Well fuck. I shouldn't have passed on breakfast.' _I peek one eye open.

Eric's grey eyes are staring at me, his hand frozen inches from my head. I stare back, seeing something flash in his eyes before it's replaced with their regular cold gaze. Relief? Concern? I ignore it and look down at his hand then back up at him. I sit up in the bed, moving over some so he's not as close. He backs up and drops his hand to cross his arms across his chest. Is that the only pose he knows? I go to rub at my face, but flinch at the touch. "How bad is it?" I ask, stretching out my arms and legs. Everything's so stiff.

"Well you look like a blueberry muffin, but you'll live." He says, giving an amused face as I roll my eyes at him. "You only missed a couple hours of training. You can go watch the rest of grappling, but you're not allowed to join." I look at him with a scowl as he raises an eyebrow. "Oh and Peter's fine. He's still out. If you care." He finishes. I slowly get out of bed, still dressed as before with Eric's shirt and shorts. My feet hit leather, and I look down at my boots. I look back up at him, ready to ask a question, but I settle for a different one.

"And you? Do you care? Is that why you brought me here and grabbed my boots?" He goes to speak but I put on my boots and start to head towards the door. "I know it was you, since you stayed to make sure I'd wake up but," I turn to look at him then, his eyes a mix of annoyance and the same emotion I can't place. "Thanks. I appreciate it. Normally I'm used to waking up where I passed out." I turn to walk out the door, heading down the hall out of the infirmary.

"Ros….Initiate! I need to talk to you before you go to dinner!" He calls out of the room, his voice going back to leader in training mode.

"So you can feed me yourself?" I call back, not bothering to turn around. I find my way to the Pit, luckily not getting lost in the process. I follow the hallway back to the training room. When I walk in, I see Christina and the other Erudite guy named Will sparring with each other while everyone else and Max watched on. Everyone looks up when I walk in, and sighs of relief come from everyone except Drew, Molly, and Edward. Go figure. I walk up to where everyone else is, sitting on the floor between the bear looking guy named Al and Max. I lean my head onto Al's leg, who reaches down and rubbs at my back some before straightening up and watching the sparring couple.

After watching a couple more pairs, we're dismissed for dinner. I nod to Max, letting him know I'll find him after dinner for my 'punishment'. Al helps me to my feet and I get pats on the back and smiles as we flow out of the training room into the hallway. Eric is waiting outside the door, and I motion to everyone to go on and I'll catch up. I raise an eyebrow at him and cross my arms across my chest looking at him. He was still only in his vest so I had to keep my eyes on his, which were grey swimming pools. '_Focus you idiot.'_ I thought to myself. "You requested my presence?" I asked him as I watched him lean up from the wall and throw something at me. I catch it and take a peek at the vial of blue liquid in my hands.

"It's a pure form of protein. You'll be getting one before every meal until we feel you're…" He pauses, looking down at my frame being swallowed by his shirt. "Plump enough." He finishes looking back at my face.

"Oh I'm sorry, is my tiny body not good enough for you?" I ask, more irritated than normal. "I didn't choose to starve myself, it just happened." I uncap the vial and drink the stuff down. It takes disgusting, but I throw the empty glass as Eric's chest without making a face. "Maybe we should see what everyone else thinks about my _sickly _body choices." I throw my arms out to my side before ripping off the shirt he gave me and throwing that at him too. The cold air hits my skin, but it makes the bruises from Peter feel better. I start to walk towards the Pit but get grabbed back and pushed into the wall before I round the corner. I come face to face with an equally pissed off Eric.

"Are you out of your fucking mind? You'll be asking for it if you walk out like that." He growled, holding me to the wall with his body. But that wasn't close enough. I pulled him closer by his vest, the heat from his body warming me where the cold wall hit my back. I saw his eyes soften, and I swear they almost rolled back at my next words.

"I'm sorry Eric, do you want me all to yourself? Is that why you care so much?" I asked quietly, almost seductively. What in the world? Where did this come from? He shook his head clear, pressing the shirt back into my chest, backing up a good distance.

"Keep it, and get to dinner." He said, back to his leader in training voice. He walked away before I could respond. I sighed looking down at the shirt. That must have been whatever Eric gave me. I've never acted like that. Hell, I've never been with a boy period. I threw the shirt back on and walked to the dining hall, pushing open the doors to the loud commotion that was dinner. I was looking for Trystan and Zeke, but waving and smiling faces caught my eye before I could find them. I walked towards the group, my fellow initiates, and plopped down as Al and Christina moved over to make room.

"Are you guys sure you want me to sit with you? I hear it's bad to hang out with the help." I say as Al fills my plate with food and places it in front of me. "And you know I can get my own food."

"Girl please. You're one of us, doesn't matter where you came from. Plus anyone that knocks Peter out is friends with us." Christina says with a smile. Al smirks in between mouthfuls of food, and Will looks like he's in pain.

"Well, thank you. I've never had real friends before." I say as they beam up at me, except Will. I roll my eyes at him, knowing his Erudite curiosity was getting to him. "Alright Will, spit it out before you have a heart attack." I tell him, which he smiles.

"Weren't you born factionless? Was it hard? Did you guys really beat up and steal weapons from Dauntless guards? Do you guys have an underground system that you use? Where do you guys sleep and eat? Are you guys planning on overthrowing the factions?" Will asks a mile a minute. I shake my head and giggle as his eyes widen in curiosity.

"Slow down Will! Geez let the woman eat and answer one at a time." Al spoke up for me then. I patted his arm in thanks as I finished chewing my food and swallowed

"Okay. Yes, yes, no, no, and the last two I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you." I said before taking another bite of meat. Will's eyes widened before we all burst into laughter. After a couple moment of eating in silence, Will broke it by asking more questions. "What did Eric want?"

"They're giving me something to make me fat." I said as I scowled at my roll. "I mean you guys can be honest, am I that bad?" I asked, standing up to pull up my shirt some to show off my extremely flat and bruised stomach. They all gave a face but shook their heads muttering how I looked great and I was so fit. "You know, you guys are terrible liars." I had an evil thought, and my face must have said the same, because I got question marks on everyone's face.

I grabbed Al's shoulder and jumped onto the table, getting stares from the people around me. "HEY DAUNTLESS!" Everyone looked this time, and when I looked over and Eric, he was seething with anger. I pulled his shirt off which left me in shorts and a black bra, getting catcalls and wolf whistles from around the room. "DO I LOOK THAT BAD?" I asked, turning and posing in a way I probably shouldn't. I heard whoops and 'Hell no's!' from around the room, not daring to look back at Eric, but looked down at my friends who were slack jawed.

I jumped off the table, giving a smile to my new friends. "I'll see you guys at lights out." I said as they smirked and waved at me. I left the shirt off and could feel the stares of everyone on me as I headed out of the dining hall. I felt callous hands grab my elbow and pull me from the dining hall, slamming me against the wall once we made it out. I was met by a boiling Eric.

"What did I say?!" He roared, which made me flinch a bit. But I was still on a high from the dining hall, so I stood tall and sent his anger right back.

"I'm sorry _sir _I didn't know I was your property. And again I say, why do you even fucking care? You're my trainer _not_ my boyfriend." I stared at him for a while before pushing off the wall and brushing past him, walking the way towards the leader's offices. I could hear him growl and a slam behind me, but I didn't bother looking back. I threw the shirt back on once I was approaching Max's office. I took a breath before knocking on the door.

"Come in." Max said. I opened the door, and he looked up from his desk to see me. "Ah, Rose. Come in and we'll get started." I closed the door behind me, seeing the cart of cleaning supplies near me. Well thank goodness I wouldn't have to carry everything. I sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk while he searched through his desk. "You'll start with my office, and make your way down the hall. Once you finish with the last office, you'll come back up and keep going. If you do one office a night, you'll only do everyone's twice when initiation's over. If there's someone still in the office when you enter, you have to wear these." He hands me 2 black pieces, which resemble ear plugs. "Its little speakers, it plays music so you can't hear any conversation that takes place. You don't have to wear them tonight, but you will after today." I nod and place the pieces in my pocket. "I'll give you keys for the offices just in case you get there and they locked up for the day." At this Max looks uncomfortable. "I'll let you get to it now. Once I'm done here you can be done too. I don't expect my office to stay clean." He lets out a small chuckle and turns back to his papers, gesturing to the cart behind us.

I stand and head to the cart, grabbing the spray bottle and a rag and start cleaning the items and counter next to the walls. I just finish cleaning everything off and pull out the broom when Max sighs and grunts at a piece of paper. I look over and his eyebrows are scrunched up and he's holding his head on his hand. I walk over a bit, "Anything I can help with Sir? Maybe a pair of fresh eyes?" I ask as he looks up, thinking about it.

"Maybe. I shouldn't be showing you this, but it's a guard report from the last sweep of…" He clears his throat, "The factionless section. They said they found an area that looked suspicious, but it doesn't match up on the map." I walk over to him, looking at it upside-down before he spins it and hands it to me. I recognize it instantly.

"I know this area Sir. And I remember this sweep. I used to stay here." I grab a pencil from his cup, drawing on the map that accompanied the report. I fix the lines, crossing some out and adding new ones. Once I finish, I hand it back to Max. "This area is where they swept." I point to the old lines. "And this is where they meant." I point to my new lines. "We made a booby-trap in case they wanted to destroy our things. They usually do. Which is what threw them off." I shrugged and pushed the papers back to Max, who frowned. He looked back down to the paper and started to write while I went to sweep the room.

I had just finished the room when Max sighed again, turning off the computer next to him. "It's late. Time to be done for the day." He spoke standing up. I looked at the clock on his wall. Midnight. Fuck. I put everything away, wiping my hands on a clean cloth. Max lead the way out, locking the door once I was out. "See you tomorrow Rose. Can you find your way back?" He asked and I nodded. Once I left the hallway, I let my shoulders sag, rubbing at them as I made my way back to the dorm room. I was exhausted.

Once I entered, I remembered I had to still fix my bed from this morning, but was surprised when it was already fixed and made. I looked over to where Christina, Al, and Will were laying and it was Al who looked up and smiled at me. I mouthed a thank you and kicked off my boots, plopping down on my bed. I barely pulled my blanket up all the way before I was already asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N**

**Yay new chapter! I'm so sorry it took a bit. I wanted to get this up Saturday, but with work, child, and life I was stuck in some parts. But here it is. Enjoy! [:**

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"Alright everyone listen up! Today we will be teaching you have to shoot a gun. Then after we'll get down into fighting. Tomorrow we'll put up a progress report of scores to see where you guys are." Eric says as we line up in a room next to the training room. This one has targets lining the back wall, with stalls a good distance away. He walks in front of us as he speaks, stopping at me since I'm at the end and looks at me. I give him a small smile which he doesn't return.

This morning I woke up before everyone. Which was really odd to me. I stepped into the shower giving myself a moment to mentally smack myself for yesterday. But what I did was done, so I have to take what I dished out. When I stepped out in my towel everyone was just rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. Walking over to my bed I saw something on it. It was a pile of clothes, the vial with blue liquid in it, and a blueberry muffin. I smirked, grabbing the vial and chugging it down and taking a bite of the muffin right after to get rid of the taste. The pants were tight, actually fitting for a change. The shirt covered all of my front, bur left the back completely bare, rendering a bra useless. '_That fucker.'_ I thought as I quickly threw everything on and sat on my bed, waiting for everyone else finish getting ready.

Which lead us to where we were now. Eric motions for all of us to approach a stall, a gun broken down into several pieces in front of us. He shows us all how to assemble the gun, place in the magazine and click a bullet into place. I look down at the gun in front of me. I've held one before, but never put one together, let alone fire one. I follow Eric's instructions carefully, placing in each piece until I heard an audible click. Once I slid in the magazine and click in the bullet, I went to put the gun down. Instead the gun fires, sending a bullet down and missing the target. I dropped the gun as everyone else jumped, some even ducking just in case.

"What the fuck was that?" Eric snarls, his eyes traveling down the line and stopping at me, which my hands were covering my mouth that was slacked open. My eyes widen as he stalks over to me, his shoulders setting back to make him taller. "Explain yourself Initiate!" He says once he reached me.

"I…..I….It was an accident." I say around my hands.

"You don't _accidentally _fire off a gun! What if that hit someone and they died?! You would be tried for murder." He roars, and I shrink back against the stall. This wasn't just leader in training Eric. This was full leader Eric, and I didn't like it. I wanted the nicer one back.

"I'm sorry." I whisper, not bothering to look at him. He grabs my chin with his hand and forces my face up. He was seething and his eyes are as hard as steel. I looked for the Eric I saw yesterday in the infirmary, but I knew he was gone.

"Go into the training room, and stay there until I come get you. Don't. Touch. Anything." He says between his teeth. He pushes me towards the door, and I stumble a bit before catching myself and shuffling out the door. I walk into the training room next door and sit down next to the fighting mat. I drop my face into my hands and groan. What the hell is his problem? Why is he acting like such an ass? Yes I'll admit to myself that what happened was really stupid, but it was really an accident.

I must have fallen asleep while waiting because the sound of a gun going off wakes me and I fall over onto the mat. I look to see Eric with a gun in each hand. One is raised up pointing at the ceiling, still smoking from the shot fired. The other is held carefully pointing at the ground. He's still in his leader mode, expressionless and hard eyed.

"Get up and follow me." He says turning back and walking to the side of the room. I jump up and run after him, watching as he unlocks a side door and leads me in. The room is a lot smaller than the training or target room, but it has enough room for 2 punching bags and a single shooting range. He leads us to the single stall and places one of the guns on the table in front. I step into the stall and look down at the gun while he stands directly behind me. "Take the gun apart." He tells me, and it takes a moment before I grab the gun, making sure the safety's on this time.

It takes me a while to take it all apart, and I set each piece down in its own spot. I look back at him once it's done and he's looking at the one in his other hand, inspecting it. He doesn't look up at me as he speaks. "Put it back together." I turn back and start to do as he said, still keeping an ear out for him. He has me take it apart and put it back together 5 times, occasionally making me take off the safety and teaching me trigger safety, putting my finger next to the trigger, not on it.

The last time I start to place the gun together, I hear his safety turn off as I place in the pin. He tried to hide it with the click of my gun, but I recognized the different sound. I slow down on putting mine together, taking my time as to not alert him of what I heard. When I finish I hear both guns cock at the same time, to which I quickly turn off my safety, and turn to face him with my gun in the air pointing at his head. He has the same stance, his pointing at me and his finger next to the trigger, but not on it. My breath comes out uneven, my chest rising and falling quickly. We stand like that for what feels like ages, not saying anything.

I finally break the silence, holding my gun tight to not show my hands shaking. "What the fuck? One day you're nice to me, next you're ready to blow my head off? What is your fucking problem?" I stare at his face, going from his cold grey eyes to his mouth that's playing with the lip ring. He raises an eyebrow but doesn't say anything. "Fucking ANSWER ME!" I shout, my hand shaking now.

His face goes back to his 'leader face', lowering his gun and returning the safety back on and holstering it into his belt. I keep my gun trained on him as he turn to walk out of the room. "You're done for the day. Go to lunch and you're not fighting after." He says before disappearing from sight. I quickly throw on the safety and drop the gun, falling to my knees while shaking. Now I really want to know what his fucking problem is.

After a while I stand to my feet, grabbing the gun off the floor and putting it back on the table in the stall. I walk out of the room and close the door, then leave the empty training room, running my fingers through my hair as I walk towards the dining hall.

Lunch went by quickly. Christina had the vial waiting for me next to two huge plates of food when I showed up. I was still to shaken up to eat, so I downed the vial and picked at the food. When I explained to everyone what happened when they asked, they all were shocked and frowned.

"He's crazy." Christina had said, which everyone agreed, including Trystan. I stayed quiet during lunch, looking over occasionally to see if Eric was at his usual spot. He never showed, which for some reason made me feel sad. _You idiot, he just pointed a gun at your head. You shouldn't even be wondering about him._ I sighed and shook myself mentally. I really had to get it together.

I thought about not going back to the training room with everyone, just going up to Max's office and getting the key so I could clean and get it over with. But I know I have to be there for everyone, even if I don't like almost half of my training class. Will fights Al first, which we could tell Al was holding back. When he took a peek at us for a moment, I gave him a nod that said _just do it._ Eric sees the interaction, which he made a smart remark about having to stop for nap time, and to get on with it. Al ended up knocking Will out cold a couple moves later, then dragging him off the mat and to us.

Christina was up against Molly, which made me extremely anxious. Molly wasn't much bigger than Christina, but her build is what scared me. When they stepped on the mat, Molly had this look about her. Like she knew what to do to make sure you never got back up. I gulped as Eric signaled for them to start.

* * *

"I can't fucking believe he made you hang from the Chasm after your fight with Molly." I said as I bit a big piece of roll. I pointed at Christina across from me at the dinner table while I finished chewing. "We have to get him back."

"Oh no way!" Will said shaking his head and paling some. "He's just a leader in training now and he's doing that. Wait till he's an actual leader. He could kill us and make it look like a suicide and no one would question it." I rolled my eyes at him from his spot next to Christina.

"I don't mean anything bad, just something that gives him a taste of his own medicine." I say shrugging while pulling my now empty place away from Al who was next to me. "Guys, please no more extra plates. If you guys keep it up I'll be as big as a house." They chuckled but nodded their heads in agreement.

"I'm fine Rose, plus I had you guys there with me so I knew if anything happened you guys would help me. And I have to agree with Will on this one. No payback." She said in between bites of hamburger. I sighed and rolled my eyes again as I looked back at the leaders table. Eric was the only one left at the table and he was already looking at me. He raised his hand and crooked one finger at me, signaling me to come here. He was still in his leader mode, that I could tell since we're in the second busiest place in Dauntless. I scoffed at him, turning my back to him and looking back at my friends. "So who's up for tattoos and shopping after dinner?" Christina asks to which everyone nods except me. I start to speak but get interrupted.

There was a loud bang, and half of the dining hall turned to look in the direction of it. Eric had his fists on the table, staring at me with daggers in his eyes. I sighed, turning back to my friends while standing up. "Maybe after my punishment if it's not too late I'll catch up with you guys. See ya." I say while Al rubs my back once and I squeeze my shoulders while walking over to Eric. Everyone stars as I sit down in front of him on the other side of the table. I raise an eyebrow at him as he stays quiet. "You rudely requested my presence?"

He reaches down into his pocket and rolls the vial onto the table towards me. I catch it before it falls off and hold it in my hand. He turns back to his plate not saying anything. I look at the vial and back to him, waiting for him to say something, but nothing comes. "That's it? You made that big scene for that?" He flicks his eyes up at me and gives a smirk, it doesn't reach the rest of his face, and he looks back down at his plate. I slit my eyes at him, downing the liquid and tossing the vial into his plate. He looks up then, but I stand up and start to walk out the hall. I'm at the door when a hand grabs my arm. It's soft and gentle, definitely not the person I was thinking.

I turn to look into big green eyes. "Aren't you Rose?"

* * *

**DUN DUN DUNNN! Who's the new person? What do they want? I guess we'll have to see.**

**How did you guys Eric today? Was he good? Terrible? I crave your opinion! Go tell me, do it! [:**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:**

**Please please _please _don't kill me! I'm so sorry this is so late. I wanted to have this up last weekend but this chapter was giving me a damn meltdown. I still don't like it that much, but I need to get past this so I'm posting it anyway. I want your honest opinion on it.**

* * *

"Um, yes? May I help you?" I ask, looking at the man fully. He has the same build as everyone here, but it wasn't extreme more lean than anything. His face is stubbly and his hair is curly and down to his shoulders. He's wearing a black V-neck shirt with dark jeans. He smiles big, and it's really cute, makes him look like a small boy.

"My name's Ceylon. I thought I would come over to see who the new girl was that everyone was talking about." He chuckled a bit and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, looking a little embarrassed. "And my friends and I are playing Candor or Dauntless, our version of Truth or Dare, and they dared me to talk to the only girl who's brave enough to pull her shirt off in front of everyone in Dauntless."

I rolled my eyes slightly annoyed, but smiled a bit. "Yeah I was waiting for something like this. Looks like you win." I gently took my wrist back from his grasp. "But if you'll excuse me I have to be somewhere."

"I can walk you. Make sure no one tries to attack you." He says offering his arm. I wave it away.

"It's alright. I'm going to Max's office so I should be fine."

"Okay," he started, taking a step towards me, "I was serious about getting to know you. Maybe we could find a time to hang out, get to know the factionless first jumper?"

"I technically wasn't the first jumper, but sure I'm sure I can find time," I say while smiling. "Now do you actually want to get to know me, or just my boobs?"

He looks down at them, giving a thinking look. Then he turns back to my face. "Nope, definitely you." He smiles again, "And you were. Getting pushed doesn't count."

At this point I can feel many eyes on my back. I smile at him, ignoring the feeling. "Okay. Maybe tomorrow?"

"It's a date." He says and smiles again, taking my hand back and kissing it before dropping it and walking back to his table. I roll my eyes and blush, pushing open the door to the dining hall and walking out.

* * *

The office I had to work on today was for a man named Rhys. He was retiring soon, so he was off finishing up things with the factions before Eric took his place. Which was lucky for me because his office wasn't very dirty. I look up at the clock on his wall, and it only took me an hour to dust, sweep, and mop and organize. I return the cart and key back to Max, who smiles and sends me on my way.

I close Max's door quietly and look up and down the hallway, seeing it's empty. I pull my hair from its ponytail and shake it out, feel it tickle my bare back. I shove my hands into my back pockets, slowly walking the halls. I've been here barely 3 days and it feels like a lifetime has passed already. If this is how it always is in Dauntless, I don't know if I'll ever get used to it.

I throw my head back and groan thinking about what I did yesterday in the dining hall. Was it really the serum that did that? I know I'm comfortable with myself but not that much. Was I trying to make a point? Even if it was just to Eric?

And then there was Eric. Did I actually like him? Did I just like flirting with him? What was with him being so nice, almost thoughtful then turning around and not even bothering with me? Did I even care? Did he?

I turned the corner and hear the Pit coming into range. I was hoping I could find my new friends before lights out. Thinking if my friends made me happy and slightly sad. I've never actually had friends, I mostly stayed to myself when I started school. And anyone who was 'nice' to me ended up just being an ass later. But I know some of them would end up going to my old home, seeing their life as over. Yes I'll admit the going hungry and not knowing if you'll have a warm place to sleep at night is no fun, but you can learn a lot of things and meet some amazing people. Most people who joined us were from Dauntless and they carried amazing stories of bravery and courage with them. It was sad to see them lose the fire in their eyes.

I quickly cross into the Pit, making my way to the shops and tattoo parlor. I just catch Christina, Will, and Al walking out of the tattoo parlor with bandages covering different spots. Christina sees me first and squeals as I walk up, grabbing my arm.

"There you are! Now we can go shopping." She says while dragging me to the shop. I roll my eyes but let her drag me. I might as well let her have her moment. I've never had someone be so excited to dress me up before, so for now I can't complain. The boys' wave after us and walk in a different way, not wanting to get wrapped up in Christina's hullabaloo.

Hours later we emerge into the Pit, our arms full of bags. Christina made me buy outfit after outfit, even ones that didn't fit yet since I would be 'getting into them over time'. Will and Al had stayed around the Pit talking and waiting for us so when they saw us they stood up and grabbed the bags from us. We started to walk back to the dorms to get ready for tomorrow.

* * *

The next morning waking up was a little easier thanks to Eric not making me fight yesterday, but my body was still dead tired. Al had to pick me up out of bed and place my feet on the floor for me to actually wake up. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as Christina picked out an outfit for me from my new pile as the guys ran to grab breakfast. I must have fallen asleep standing up because Christina is throwing my shirt over my head, a black tight long sleeve with lace for sleeves and top half, and I'm already in black pants with my boots. Al hands me a muffin, and turns me around to push me out the door. Christina half drags me threw the pit and up the stairs to the roof so we could make the train.

Eric gives a look as we just make it, the train reaching us right after. I shrug him off, taking the last bite of my muffin. We all start to run, Eric jumping in first to open the doors. I jumped next, my legs still half asleep so I slipped and almost fell out. A hand grabs me and pulls me into the car before I can fall completely, pulling me straight into his chest. _His._ I look up at Eric to which he simply hands me the vial and lets me go as everyone else makes their way into the train. I walk and sit on one of the benches, ready to down the serum when I notice a note attached to the bottle. I take off the note and open it carefully.

'_Stay on the train afterwards. We need to talk.'_

I drink down the serum and stuff the note inside, putting the vial in my pocket and looking up at Eric. He's looking at everyone, but glances in my direction. I give a small nod and he turns back to everyone. "Listen up! Today we're taking a trip to the fence. You'll get to see what we do there and look into a job most of you will have after Initiation. Pay attention." I start to panic once he finishes and turns towards the door. The fence? Fucking really? That's the last place I want to go. I didn't really have a good reputation there.

As the train starts to jolt and slow down at our approach, I start to get more anxious, bouncing my leg up and down. Maybe the guards that were there last time weren't there last time. But I knew better, because they worked on a rotation schedule, and I knew it was their time. Eric motioned for us to jump, and I was the last, pulling my hair down from its bun and shaking it out, covering my face mostly with it. I walked next to Al, who was tall enough to cover me. As the fence came more into view, I started to wipe my hands on my pants, keeping my head down and looking at everyone's feet. We stopped at the bottom and I could hear voices around and above. I kept my head down, only moving my eyes to look around.

"This is the fence, like I said earlier where most of you will be working after initiation. We supervise what goes in and what goes out. Most will be Amity going to the fields. But you can never be too careful. Go ahead and talk to some of the guards while I check on some things." Eric says and walks off, going to the stairs to walk up to the top. Most of us follow him, but I stay on the ground, feigning interest in the bottom of the fence.

Someone grabs my hair and wrenches my head up, and I look up to the Dauntless build and dark almost black eyes. He smirks when he recognizes me and I scowl. _Fuck. _"Hey Hayden, look who is!" He shouts behind him and leans his head towards mine, "Here to apologies for last time?" He asks and I try to pull my head back but his grip in my hair tightens, causing my eyes to water. I gulp but somehow a smart remark makes its way past my lips.

"It's so nice to see you again too Jayden. Has your side healed well?" He growls and I smirk until I hear Hayden walk into view. Hayden is Jayden's twin so they look completely identical. You can only tell the difference by their eye color. Hayden's is bright green. "And I told you two last time I didn't steal the fucking guns!"

Jayden throws me into Hayden, who grabs my wrists and puts them behind my back like I'm being arrested. Jayden lifts his shirt to show me the scar that starts right under his left pectoral and is about 2 inches long. I smile wide now, shaking my head as he drops his shirt and walks over grabbing my chin in his hand and looks me straight in the eyes, pissed off. "Don't fucking lie. Look at you now, trying to hide in Dauntless like it'll save you. It won't this time. We won't go easy."

"I'm not hiding, I'm going through initiation dumb ass. And the fact that you still don't believe me even _after _they found them where you idiots left it, which was on the fucking train, makes you both dumber than a bunch of couch cushions. I mean who leaves a bag full of fucking _hand guns and ammo _on a fucking _moving _train that goes through _all the fucking factions!_" I spit at him, feeling my anger reach the same level his is. "You only blamed me for it because you saw me running, which is fucked up to say the least…"

I can't finish my rant because Jayden grabs me by the hair again and slams my face into the side of the concrete fence foundation. I hear a crack and my nose starts gushing blood. "FUCK!" I scream trying to pull my arms free from Hayden, who only tightens his grasp. The water in my eyes pools over but I don't sob.

"Rose! What the fuck?!" Christina runs over with Will and Al hot on her heels from behind Jayden. Edward, Drew, Molly, and Peter walk over from the other side of Hayden and burst out laughing, I scowl as I feel wet run down my chin and onto the lace on my shirt. _Double fuck._

"What the fuck…."Eric walks over then, looking between all of us, then his eyes land on me. "Seriously what is with you and men?" He asks. I don't answer and he turns to the twins. "Let her go. If this is how you two treat initiates I'll make sure you guys are out here for a long time." Jayden and Hayden release me, and I grab at my nose, making sure it isn't completely broken. Christina grabs me then and walks me away, while Al hands me a napkin to wipe myself up. "We're done for today, get back on the train initiates." Eric says as he walks away from the twins who glare at me. I flip them off as my friends steer me away from the fence and to the train. Eric looks back at me as we all wait for the train, and I remember that I have to talk to him. _Triple fuck._

* * *

So? How'd I do? Please let me know. And a big shout out to avadak3davra for helping me unknowingly with some parts! [:


	7. Chapter 7

**I know I know! I'm the worst. I'll explain later. And yes its not as long either. I'm super sorry. Just please take this as an offering for now. What are you still doing here. GO!**

* * *

My nose finally stopped bleeding once we reached the roof to Dauntless. Everyone started to jump off and I was half tempted to follow them. I really didn't want to talk to Eric, especially after what just happened at the fence. He's standing at the front of the car, his signature crossed armed leaning back against the wall pose going on. I'm at the back, in the same pose with blood staining my hands, face and chest. He leans over a bit to close the train car door once everyone's off. _Oh hell._

We stand in silence for a bit, both staring at each other. I raise an eyebrow as he stands up straight and closes the distance between us. He grabs my chin and lifts my head up so he could look at my nose, but this was different. This was the hand I felt my first day on the roof and again in the infirmary, gentle and warm. _Stop it. You're mad at him, he's mad at you. Be angry, stupid. _

"It's not broken, but it'll hurt like hell for a while. Would you like to tell me why Jayden slammed you into the wall?" Eric asks, his voice wasn't like it was yesterday, gruff and leader in training. It was gentle like his hands. I look at him warily for a moment, waiting for the leader to come out, but it didn't come. I plaster a sarcastic smile on my face, feeding off the pep talk in my mind.

"Hi Eric, it's nice to see the real you again too. If this is the real you. Are you here to stay or do you plan on having another mood swing sometime soon?" He rolls his eyes and a scowl graces his face, but I kept going. "Because your mood swings are giving me whiplash. One minute you're a babysitter who likes sharpening knives for fun, the next you act like you give a damn. I need to know which is which, because I can't deal."

He sighs, frustration clear on his face, his grey eyes bright in the shadowed car. His grip on my chin tightens. He walks us backwards until my back is fully against the wall behind me, pinning me to it. _There he is. _"Are you always this hard headed?"

"Usually." I attempt to shrug, giving a half smile as he growls.

"Right now I'm trying to be nice, so will you please answer me?"

"Is it always this difficult for you?" I cock my head to the side, as much as he'll let me. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, his other hand balling into a fist. "Fine, I'll throw you a bone. I'd rather not get hit again. How about answer for answer?" I offer, throwing my hands into the air in surrender as he opens his eyes and I can see the curiosity in them. "What's the catch?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.

I shake my head, his grip loosens a bit. "No catch. You ask a question, I answer, and vice versa. Actual answers, no skirting around it." He thinks about this for a moment then shrugs and nods waiting impatiently for me to go first. "Remember the missing guns incident last year that were going to the fence?" He nods again as he let go of my chin so I could speak better and also takes a step back and I shake off the warmth his hands left on my face, "Well when the idiots, I mean twins, left them on the train cause they were too busy talking about who they would try to bang next. I was hiding from someone in the back of the same car. So since I jumped off after them they assumed I hid the bag from them and took it so I could bring it back to the Factionless. They're not the brightest." I look down at the blood on my hands. "When I told them I didn't touch it and they were just forgetful, they tried to stab me for lying, but I was able to grab the knife from Hayden and stab Jayden and get away."

"So you were the little girl that sent Jayden to the infirmary for 3 days and ran off with his brother's knife." I smirk as I look up at Eric, who was amused, then gave a quizzical look. "Who were you running from?"

"Ah ah ah. My turn." I hold up a finger and he sighs. "What the hell was up with my gun punishment? Were you really going to shoot me?"

"No, I was trying to show you how serious the situation was. You need to think of the gun as an extension of your arm. And to use caution at all time. Which, you still have to make up the shooting part of the day." I huff as I slide down the wall to sit on the floor. He sits on the bench in front of me, looking down at me. "Now, who were you running from?"

You won't believe me when I tell you." I huff while he takes on his arms crossed pose.

"Try me."

"It was Peter and his 'friends'. They used to follow me 'home' after school to mess with me." He raises an eyebrow. "I was Factionless, not dead. Since I'm the first Factionless child to go through the faction initiation in like, ever, I didn't fit in so they wanted to make sure I never made it to Choosing Day. Guess I proved them wrong."

"I guess you did." He mumbles, almost unintelligible. We fell into silence for a bit after that, both of us listening to the train under us. It wasn't awkward, more comfortable than anything. How can this already be comfortable? He's made sure to always find something wrong with everything I do. After some time, he spoke up, "So I saw you talking to Ceylon the other day." It wasn't a question, but I answer anyway with a shrug.

"Yeah, I mean he was only introducing himself, but he seems nice."

"Yeah, but he's not. He likes to mess with girls, and not in a good way. I don't think it's a good idea if you two hang out." he says nonchalantly, or at least he tries to. There's a certain tone to his voice, more like a warning than a suggestion. Really?

I raise my eyebrows, balancing my arms on my knees, "Are you telling or suggesting that I don't hang out with him? And why does it matter who I do and who I don't hang out with? You don't own me." He exhales loudly through this nose, and I can tell I'm pissing him off again. _Good_.

"I'm telling you. He's a total jackass. And unless you want to end up dead, don't even go near him." His hands go down next to him, gripping the bench tightly until his knuckles turn white. "Even better, just don't get in trouble. Keep your head down and go through the rest of initiation without trouble." He adds in.

"I think I can look out for myself thanks." I give a small fake smile, and he growls

"Can't you just trust me and do as I say? Why must you always question everything I say?" He stands up and I jump up to my feet. There's a big height difference between us, so it looks like an adult scolding a child.

"Because, again, I was Factionless, not dead. So I have this magical superpower, called 'common sense'," I make air quotes with my hands then drop them to my sides, "So I can figure out for myself who I can trust and who I can't. And so far the guy who pointed a gun at my head for _accidentally _mishandling my gun is farther down the list than the guy who I just met."

He steps closer and his hands are in fists at his side. His jaw sets and his eyes harden, freezing the grey over. I stare right back at him, probably looking as intimidating as a baby kitten trying to get its first kill, but I don't care. I can tell he wants to say something else, but he doesn't. He chuckles darkly, backing up and walks towards the door, yanking it open roughly. He looks back at me, barely shaking his head. "Do whatever the hell you want. Become another statistic, I don't give a shit. Just don't expect someone to help you." And with that he jumps from the train, disappearing from sight.

What the heck was that? I started shaking my head and pacing around the car. Was he serious? I've been here how long and he wants to pull crap like that? I can't socialize with people I'm supposed to call my family? Just because of an accusation? Is that supposed to scare me into behaving and getting through initiation? Just because someone can easily take me out? And the most important question, _why does he even care?_

Walking towards the door, I shake my head and look down at the buildings flying by. I should be none of his concern outside of initiation. If I wanted to be heavily policed, I would have stayed at home in the Factionless. I wouldn't have begged my parents to put their life on the line for me to have a chance at being normal. I sigh and jump off the train at the last moment, landing on the same roof we entered Dauntless in on day one. My thoughts are going as I pace across the roof before sitting down on the edge right above the hole. Why is he so…so…jealous? Is that the right word for this? Is he worried I'll run off with the guy? And what does he mean by me ending up dead. He won't kill me...Right?

I shake my head once more, and realize I probably messed up, bad. He's a leader and all I've done is backtalk him since I've gotten here. If I don't get kicked out for failing first, I'm sure he'd be glad to send me back for mouthing off constantly. I'm sure he went back to Max to tell him how I don't follow direction and they put that in my record too. I guess I should apologies and go back to doing what I do best, keeping quiet and staying in the background. Which is what he wants. Sighing, I stand up and look back down at the hole before stepping off the edge into the black, feeling the rush of air until my back bounces off the net. My heart is in my throat as I laugh off the adrenaline from the fall. Then the net moved and I roll towards the edge, while two hands grab my waist and hoist me off. "Just who I was looking for." The hands say as I look up and see who they belong to. A big goofy smile and brown curls look down at me. Ceylon.

* * *

**Tada! I know what your thinking. "You haven't posted in over a year and this is all you give us?!" Like I said I'm really really REALLY sorry. RL got the better off me and I lost my will to write. I got my wisdom teeth out, moved (twice), got sucked into my job where that was literally the only place I went. And every time I went back to the story I would only nit pick at what I already had and not keep going. But please tell me what you think. **


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